Abstract

This demonstration presents a live field trial of Licensed Shared Access (LSA) concept using commercial 3.5 GHz LTE eNBs in Finland and developed in the context of the EU-BRAZIL FUTEBOL project. In the trial a mobile network operator (MNO) uses LSA and carrier aggregation (CA) to increase the capacity of the LTE network when the incumbent user is not using the shared part of the spectrum. When incumbent user requires the shared spectrum, the LSA controller automatically evacuates the cell that would interfere with the incumbent user, and the LTE network continues running with reduced capacity. When the spectrum is again available, LSA controller automatically increases the capacity with CA.

CBRS model for wireless systems coexistence in 3.6-3.8 GHz band

Adrian Kliks, Paweł Kryszkiewicz, Faculty of Electronics and Telecommunications, Poznan University of Technology

Abstract

This demonstrator shows the application of the Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) spectrum sharing model in 3.6-3.8 GHz band at a specific location in Poznan, Poland. The ultimate goal of the associated experiment is to utilize the abovementioned spectrum band in a more efficient way. Currently, this portion of spectrum is assigned to the WiMAX services, which have to be maintained for a longer time due to the legal commitments. From that perspective, we consider to reuse the spectrum in better way, mainly to deliver point-to-point transmission via a microwave link. Following the CBRS nomenclature, the WiMAX users will constitute the highest priority users (first tier), whereas the microwave links will be treated as incumbents which do not interfere to the WiMAX system. Furthermore, in our multi-tier experiment we also consider the presence of third tier users, which are general authorized access (GAA) users. In such approach, the GAA subsystem will operate in the same frequency band as WiMAX and microwave link do, but their priority will be the lowest from these three. It means that by assumption the GAA transmission cannot distort neither WiMAX nor microwave link. The whole system is managed in real time by the dedicated remote database located in Finland.

Radio virtualization for coping with dynamic heterogeneous wireless environments

Xianjun Jiao, Ingrid Moerman, imec - Universiteit Gent - IDLab

Abstract

Today many wireless standards are applied for supporting different type of traffic streams (e.g. low data rate sensor data versus high throughput data streams). These wireless standards further operate in the same wireless environment without any coordination between standards, often leading to interference and inefficient spectrum usage. In order to increase spectrum efficiency, future radios will have to collaborate and adapt radio settings to limit interference through coordinated control of frequency bands, time slots, power settings, etc. across multiple standards. It is very difficult for wireless developers to design wireless solutions with improved coexistence characteristics, as they have to deal with multiple radio chips and as many different drivers. Software defined radio (SDR) solutions are very attractive because of their easy of programming. However, when realtime operation is required, it is impossible to use software solutions and instead radio processes have to be hardcoded on FPGA (or ASIC) with slower development cycles.

In the context of the ORCA project a SDR architecture is developed on a single chip radio platform (currently implemented in a Zynq-based System on Chip environment) that offers a unified software API with the following capabilities: (1) concurrent data transmission using multiple standards; (2) realtime control of multiple virtual radios through runtime composition and parametric control of transceiver chains; and (3) radio resource slicing, supporting independent operation of multiple standards in different spectral bands, time slots or in different beams. Such an architecture offers a fast development cycle, as only software programming is required for controlling the virtual radio chip using the unified software API. The architecture further allows a very efficient design in terms of hardware resources, as hardcoded radio processing units (PHY accelerated resources) can be shared over multiple standards and multiple virtual radios.

This demo will showcase simultaneous detection of two IEEE 802.11 and eight IEEE 802.15.4 traffic streams in concurrent & overlapping channels via two virtual radios using the same PHY hardware accelerators.

Electrosense: Crowdsourcing spectrum monitoring​

Abstract

We present Electrosense: a distributed, collaborative and low-cost wireless spectrum monitoring solution which is deployed on a large scale. The proposed framework provide tools to enable and promote a crowdsourced open spectrum monitoring platform for wide area deployments. The collected spectrum data is stored and processed in the backend which can be easily retrieved by the users through an open API. The framework also deploys various signal processing algorithms deployed on the sensors as well as in the backend which provides statistics on spectrum usage, helps in applications like anomaly detection and localization. The goal of the demo is to introduce the framework, show the community how to be a part of the network and demo a few built-in applications of the framework.

Automatic benchmarking of mobile networks with QoS and QoE analytics​

Tiago Alves, Instituto Politécnico de Castelo Branco

Abstract

To gain competitive advantage in today’s mobile market, Mobile network Operators (MNOs) are required to perform cellular network testing and monitoring to ensure proper customer experience is being attained. This is somewhat being achieved by subcontracting independent and specialized benchmarking companies to run dedicated drive tests in certain geographical areas. However, the high cost for running these tests, commonly results in a low frequency of execution, insufficient to reflect the dynamics of an LTE network in dense urban areas.

This demonstrator will showcase a different approach, where fully automated LTE benchmark probes can be deployed on the field without dedicated drivers and technicians. These LTE probes can measure the most relevant radio and network key performance indicators (KPIs). Through Deep Machine Learning algorithms and ITU standardized approaches, service quality analytics (audio and data), which include user experience, are then visualized on a dashboard in a meaningful way.

Coexistence of systems based on 5G waveforms with legacy OFDM devices​

Quentin Bodinier and Carlos Bader, CentraleSupélec, France

Abstract

We envision that future networks will consist of different services that will coexist without synchronization or coordination on the same spectral bands. In particular, newly inserted cognitive devices may be called to coexist with legacy incumbent OFDM-based systems, in particular in the bands currently used for LTE-A cellular communication or digital video broadcasting. Filter Bank Multi-Carrier (FB-MC) waveforms which exhibit advantageous spectral properties have been proposed to facilitate coexistence with incumbent systems. In this demonstration, we show that, despite the enhanced spectral localization of FB-MC waveforms, they do not significantly facilitate coexistence with incumbent systems if the latter are based on OFDM.

Indeed, most studies demonstrating the advantages of FB-MC over OFDM in cognitive radio setups have so far assumed that both the secondary and incumbent systems would be using FB-MC. Nevertheless, it is likely that at least in a first step, incumbent devices - typically mobile handsets - will still be based on OFDM. Therefore, there is a need to properly investigate the coexistence between FB-MC cognitive devices and OFDM incumbent systems. The demonstrator we propose enables users to measure the interference created on each subcarrier of the OFDM incumbent according to the waveform used by the secondary which can be set to use either OFDM or different types of FB-MC waveforms. The presented results will demonstrate that using FB-MC for the secondary transmission does not significantly reduce interference to the OFDM incumbent.